Bolts fire coordinator Cottrell

The defense was passive, even confused. The mistakes were not being corrected. It was, in fact, getting worse.

After a series of meetings on another continent, following another demoralizing loss, those were the judgments of the Chargers' brain trust.

And so, less than a week after the team's president and general manager declared decisions on changes would be made at year's end, defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell was fired Tuesday and replaced by inside linebackers coach Ron Rivera.

“The same things have been our nemesis the entire year,” coach Norv Turner said. “ Ultimately, I've got to make a decision based on what's best for our football team and where we need to go.”

The decision to fire Cottrell was, in the end, Turner's. The head coach for weeks had been publicly hinting at and privately pushing for scheme changes he would like to see, particularly regarding the team's pass rush.

But it is guaranteed that a decision to fire Cottrell was not made without the blessing of General Manager A.J. Smith. Cottrell, Smith's old friend from their days together in Buffalo, was hired on the same day as Turner back in February 2007, ostensibly by Turner but at Smith's behest.

“Things have not worked out for him as well as we all hoped,” Smith said of Cottrell. “We felt a change was necessary at this time. We appreciate his contributions while he was here and wish him the best.”

Cottrell took over a defense characterized by its all-out aggressiveness and turned it into something often resembling pudding. He dropped linebackers Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips, two of the league's best pass rushers, into coverage more than Turner, Smith, the players or fans would have liked. He was selective with the frequency and timing of blitzes. While the Chargers still blitzed more than most teams, the consensus was they had become predictable.

As the Chargers sit at a monumentally disappointing 3-5 in the midst of their bye week, they are ranked last in the league in pass defense, 28th in total defense, 23rd in points allowed and 21st in sacks per pass play.

“There (are) a lot of things that went into the decision,” Turner said. “There are areas we just have to play better. We have to improve. Over the next 10 days (before the next game, Nov. 9 against Kansas City), those areas will be addressed and hopefully we can not only show improvement right away, but then continue to improve over the next eight games. ... There have been a lot of different situations where we feel we're close and just not quite making the play or getting it done. That's the areas we're going to address.”

Rivera, the Chicago Bears' defensive coordinator from 2004-06, will be more aggressive in his play-calling, though he was reluctant to say so Tuesday.

“If I told you exactly how I was going to approach it I'd be telling Kansas City,” said Rivera, hired on the same day as Turner and Cottrell after not having his contract renewed in Chicago.